Friday, March 28, 2008

Caesar Salad and other goodness

So nothing today comes from Veganomicon but they're still worthy of mention.

So for lunch today I had a burger and a Caesar Salad. I have heard AMAZING things about the Living Caesar Dressing recipe from Dreena Burton's Eat, Drink and be Vegan. Normally, Caesar dressing is made out of raw egg and anchovy paste, among other non-vegan ingredients. Dreena's recipe is made out of cashews and pine nuts blended together with a few seasonings and thinned out with lemon juice and water.

I was skeptical. I how on earth could this list of ingredients create anything vaguely resembling caesar salad dressing? Well, I have no idea, but this dressing is AMAZING. If this were served to unsuspecting diners in a restaurant I seriously doubt anyone would guess that it wasn't just a regular, fabulous caesar dressing. I think I could drink the stuff. It should be called Caesar crack or something. I can't wait until dinner so I can have some more.

I have never made my own veggie-burgers and intend to try it out sometime soon, but today I just paired the salad with a Gardenburger Black Bean Chipotle burger on a bun topped with salsa and sliced avocado. If you've never tried veggie-burgers and are wary of the idea, I think these are a great place to start. In no way do they attempt to resemble beef, so there are no "this doesn't taste like a REAL burger" issues. They aren't supposed to--they have black beans, corn and chipotle peppers in them and are very nicely seasoned. Also, it only takes a few minutes to heat them up, so they're a great thing to have stashed in the freezer for when you need a quick meal.